Industry Groups Sue Biden Admin to Block Emissions Rule

Vehicles travel along Interstate 405 during a gap in a rainstorm in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

A coalition of oil and gas trade groups has sued the Biden administration, challenging new emissions standards that they argue will effectively ban most new gas cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in less than a decade.

In one of several legal filings brought by more than 30 different industry bodies, the American Petroleum Institute (API)—the country’s largest oil trade group—alleges that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its statutory authority in adopting the rules on emissions for light- and medium-duty vehicles, restrictions the complaint describes as “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law.”

The petition, which was filed on June 13 in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asks the court to declare the EPA rule unlawful and vacate it.

“EPA has exceeded its congressional authority with this regulation that will eliminate most new gas cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in less than a decade,” Ryan Meyers, API senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. “Today, we are taking action to protect American consumers, U.S. manufacturing workers and our nation’s hard-won energy security from this intrusive government mandate.”

Another similar legal challenge to the same EPA rule was announced on Thursday by around a dozen organizations led by American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), which noted in a press release that a total of 36 petitioners are represented across three separate legal filings challenging the rule.

The EPA issued the new final rules for light- and medium-duty vehicles for the model years 2023 through 2027 on April 18, with an updated version incorporating a number of corrections to the rule published on June 13 in the Federal Register.

The final rules are set to go into effect on June 17, and when they do, they will be the toughest-ever limits on tailpipe emissions, part of the Biden administration’s bid to accelerate the manufacture and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

The regulations will cut 7.2 billion tons of carbon emissions through 2055, according to the EPA, while purportedly providing an estimated $99 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, $46 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and $16 billion in lower annual maintenance and repair costs for drivers.

An EPA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the agency would not comment on pending litigation as a matter of policy.

When the rules were first announced on March 20, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan called them the “strongest-ever” pollution standards that would “solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future” and that would advance President Joe Biden’s “historic climate agenda.”

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The plaintiffs argue that the new rules will amount to a ban on most new gas cars and traditional hybrids.

The EPA has said that under the final rule, the industry could meet the emissions standards if 56 percent of new vehicle sales are electric by 2032, along with at least 13 percent being plug-in hybrids or other partially electric cars, and gasoline-powered vehicles that get more miles to the gallon.

For light-duty vehicles, the standards are projected to result in an industry-wide average target for the light-duty fleet of 85 grams per mile of carbon dioxide by 2032—which breaks down into 73 grams per mile for cars and 90 grams per mile for trucks.

Chet Thompson, president and CEO of AFPM, argued in a statement that the fleetwide average standards are meant to force the switch to EVs.

“EPA also overstepped in finalizing fleetwide average standards, rather than concrete standards that all cars and trucks must meet,“ he said. ”Since no gas, diesel or traditional hybrid today can meet 85 grams/mile, EPA’s averaging scheme—which is already being contested for the 2023-2026 standards—is clearly meant to force EV adoption.

“And the choice to ignore all other vehicle lifecycle emissions, save those from the tailpipe, puts internal combustion engine vehicles at an arbitrary disadvantage.”

In a blog post, AFPM says that automakers have historically improved fuel efficiency by around 2 percent per year, but that meeting 85 grams per mile would require multiples of that rate that are “unprecedented and unrealistic.”

While the EPA and the White House have rejected the assertion that the rule would amount to a “ban” on gasoline cars, AFPM argues that under the rules, not every consumer who wants to buy a gas car will be able to get one, and many more won’t be able to afford them.

The trade group argues that under the new EPA regulations, the ability for automakers to sell new gas cars depends on whether they can sell many more EVs. If they can’t sell enough EVs on their own, and if there’s a lack of a surplus of credits to buy from other automakers, then “individual manufacturers will have no choice but to cut gas car production.”

The EPA emission rules are part of the Biden administration’s climate change agenda, a top priority for the White House since President Joe Biden took office.